Changes and continuities in the social organization of the Argentine railroad transportation service of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, 1990-2010

Abstract

During the early-1990s the Argentine railroad transportation service of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires City (AMBAC) was transferred to private investors. They were in charge of the administration as well of taking economic advantage from the provision of the service. The unviability of this model became evident when in 2002 the Railroad Emergency was announced. At this time, members of the economic and political establishment pointed out to the state´s incapacity to sustain the subsidies mechanism as the main cause for the service deterioration. This view, however, leaved out the fact that such deterioration was the consequence of a set of pre-existing conditions that had favored the formation of a Privileged Area of Accumulation in the railroad sector. Since 2003 the meaning and scope of the relationship between the state and the private firms was reconsidered. As a consequence, important modifications were introduced into the suburban railroad system regarding the provision of the service. This work analyzes the changes and continuities in the social organization of the railroad transportation service of the AMBAC during the 1990-2010 period, exploring to what extent were these changes able to modify the most regressive features that have characterized the previous decade.